


Flipping Over the Hourglass

by Blaforan



Category: Heretical Edge - Cerulean, Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magika | Puella Magi Madoka Magica
Genre: F/F, Gen, Heretical Edge Spoilers, Hope, Natural Heretic!Homura, Omake, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Recursive Fanfiction, Slow To Update, Time Travel, Timeline Shenanigans
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-31
Updated: 2020-05-15
Packaged: 2021-02-27 06:00:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 9,965
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22062208
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Blaforan/pseuds/Blaforan
Summary: Try.  Fail.  Try again.  Fail again.  Repeat.Learn that everything you believed about the world was woefully incomplete.Fail.Try again.A Wish I Were a Bystander omake.
Relationships: Felicity Chambers/Avalon Sinclaire, Felicity Chambers/Shiori Porter
Comments: 7
Kudos: 9





	1. Homura I

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Veozar](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Veozar/gifts).
  * Inspired by [Wish I Were a Bystander](https://archiveofourown.org/works/21098888) by [Veozar](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Veozar/pseuds/Veozar). 



> WARNING: General warning for Heretical Edge spoilers up until the beginning of year two. This includes story elements beyond those that have been included in Wish I Were a Bystander. Nothing to crazy in this chapter but be warned going forward.
> 
> Inspired by Homura and Flick's discussion in chapter 18 of Wish I Were a Bystander. AU-ish for anything after that point.
> 
> I ended up making some different stylistic choices in this. Hopefully it works out.

My eyes opened. As always I was back in my hospital room. After the seemingly endless number of repeating time-loops it had become so familiar to me that I could navigate it blindfolded.

 _In a_ _n_ _ironic twist my new timelines always began with waiting. Exactly t_ _hirteen_ _minutes_ _until a nurse and my_ _minder arrived at my room to take me to the apartment that was to be my new home._ _Of course_ _with my Magical_ _Girl abilities I could easily leave as soon as I awoke, but things became troublesome if I did that._ _It was better to wait._

_I let my thoughts drift, waiting for the minutes to pass._

Back to the beginning again.

~~Failure again.~~

The previous timeline had been vastly different, almost alien to anything I had ever seen before. That was terrifying. My hard won experience from the endless repeats, the ability to predict the course of events rendered utterly useless in the face of so many unknown variables.

In the face of the widespread memory and perception altering effects revealed in the previous timeline did I even remember everything important? I paused momentarily as I did a quick mental self check running over what I had learned. There was much more to the supernatural side of the world then Magical Girls. Humanity was nowhere near the only species living on Earth. The Seosten greater universe was consumed by an endless war between the Seosten and the Fomorians. The Seosten were the power behind the scenes on earth, shaping the growth of humanity to suit their designs.

There were no obvious gaps that I could detect in my memories. I could remember the revelations shared by the Werewolf Heretic Pace. And those which had come later.

 ~~But,~~ ~~if my m~~ ~~emories~~ ~~had been compromised would I even be able to detect it?~~

The revelations of the previous timeline tore my safety net of future knowledge away. Revealed it as a mirage, made from cobwebs instead of strong ropes forged with sweat and blood. I had been blind to so many of the deeper mysteries of the world.

No. Something like that wasn’t enough to make me fall into despair.

~~Failing, failing and failing again.~~

Perhaps without true understanding of the world, salvation _**was** _ impossible. Could I have come all this way without the ability to even see the pieces necessary to find my way to a happy ending? Without a way to escape this labyrinth of looped time?

I cut the thought off.

 _The thirteen minutes_ _had_ _passed._ _A_ _soft_ _knock at the door_ _was followed by_ _the nurse and my minder_ _e_ _ntering_ _my room. As with the room itself, their conversation h_ _ad become so routine_ _that I could make the appropriate responses to get through this encounter as swiftly as possible without any real thought._

_I took the clean clothes brought by my minder and stepped into the bathroom to change from my hospital gown. The discussion between the two women nothing more then white noise._

The previous timeline had been an anomaly.

It ended in failure.

 ~~If I couldn’t succeed even with every advantage~~ ~~g~~ ~~iven~~ ~~b~~ ~~y~~ ~~the previous timeline could I succeed at all?~~

I had gained so much from it.

~~Maybe it was easier to just give up.~~

Flick hadn’t given up. Madoka hadn’t given up. I couldn’t give up now.

Knowledge about the wider universe from my connection with Carmentae. New allies. No, new friends. Magical Girls who could learn the truth of our cursed existence and still stand tall and continue fighting against the darkness of the universe. Allies outside the cycle of Magical Girls. Felicity Chambers who didn’t lose her desire to fix this broken world even after becoming a Witch.

The most priceless knowledge from Avalon Sinclaire. Spells to prevent magical girls from spiralling into despair. A method to snatch the soul of a Magical Girl from their torturous prison as a Witch. The methods and theory behind the spells burnt into my mind so that I would never forget even if the practical applications eluded me for the time being.

Hope again. After all this time. Hope.

That fire inside which had been slowly smothered over the endless cycle of loops. Burning down to small sparks and coals of pure determination. Finally there was a reason to feed that fire again, to carefully fan the flames and watch it grow. To feel it’s warmth ever so slowly spread through my body banishing the icy hand of despair.

The knowledge gained and the hope restored had been more then I had gained from a single timeline since the earliest timelines. More then I could’ve ever expected.

 _Having changed from my hospital gown to the provided set of clothes I followed my minder as_ _she went through the process of checking me out of the hospital._ _Various cards shown. Forms signed._ _It ate up valuable time, but avoiding it was more of a hassle then it was worth._

 _The song and dance of my d_ _ischarge_ _from the hospital completed_ _my minder led me o_ _ut of the building which had been my home for the (not so) recent past_ _._

I stepped through the open hospital doors into the bright light of day.

The sunlight felt more comforting then I could ever remember experiencing. The warmth sunk into my skin as if I were wrapped in a thick blanket. I couldn’t help but stop for a moment to soak in the sensation. My minder allowed me my moment then continued bundling me toward the parked car that would take me to the apartment which had become my home for longer then I could remember.

I let the flow carry me without thought. This was still a part of the dance I knew by heart. The appropriate motions. The appropriate words in the appropriate tones.

Thank you so much for all the assistance getting home.

Yes, I’m feeling fine.

No, I didn’t need anything else.

Yes, I would call if I needed anything before then.

It was time consuming, but I eventually managed to convince my minder to leave me to my own devices.

Free from supervision, it was time to get to work.

\- - -

A few hours later, after starting toward getting my apartment into a more suitable state as a home base, a quick meal of convenience store curry and I was back out on the street. More specifically the city train line.

My focus was on the cellphone in my hand. The Mitakihara High School student directory open on my screen.

 **S** **earch Query:** Felicity Chambers

0 Results Found

**Search Again?**

...

 **S** **earch Query:** Flick Chambers

0 Results Found

**Search Again?**

...

 **S** **earch Query:** Felicity Atherby

0 Results Found

**Search Again?**

...

 **S** **earch Query:** Flick Atherby

0 Results Found

**Search Again?**

I tucked my phone away. That Flick was missing from the student directory was a bitter pill, but wasn’t completely unexpected given the abnormality of the previous timeline. Even if she wasn’t attending Mitakihara High confirming that finding her wasn’t as simple as going to her apartment was one of my tasks for the afternoon. It was always best to verify the simple solution to a problem didn’t work before resorting to more complex alternatives.

I exited at the appropriate station. The path to my destination as familiar as anything. The steps etched into my body by repetition. Without thought I was there.

Mitakihara Middle School.

I had arrived right as the school day was ending. A stream of students exited from the school grounds. Individuals heading home or to activities off of school grounds. Pairs or small groups heading off to some activity or another.

Going out for dinner. Hitting the mall or arcade. Karaoke.

It didn’t matter to me.

I only had eyes for one person in this crowd.

Madoka.

There she was. Walking with Sayaka and Hitomi. The three of them smiling and chatting happily as they walk down the street. Madoka and Sayaka once again untouched by the cruelty of the Magical Girl system.

Madoka’s happy smile wraps around me matching the warmth of the sunlight.

I shrug off the impulse to stop time and hold this instant for as long as I can.

I would save her. Beyond that– could my reborn hope be enough? Could I once again believe that saving everyone was possible? Last time around everyone had known the truth and we had all stood together against Walpurgis Night.

~~Yes.~~

We pass each other and the moment is broken.

I don’t stop.

I don’t turn.

I keep going.

There are other things that need to be done.

\- - -

Finding Flick’s apartment wasn’t as intuitive as many things were this early in the timeline. It hadn’t been carved into me by endless repetition. Despite how familiar I was with the city, finding the correct location took some effort.

As I looked over the apartment intercom system panel disappointment slowly built. Flick’s name wasn’t listed next to the address had been her apartment in the previous timeline.

 ~~She wasn’t attending~~ ~~Mitakihara~~ ~~High~~ ~~in this timeline,~~ ~~had I really expected to find her here?~~

Leaving without confirming it was a waste of time.

Maybe something had changed and Flick had moved. Maybe asking would get me something. Point me in the right direction.

I pressed the call button down and waited.

A half minute later and the voice of an older woman came from the panel “Hello, who is it?”

“Good afternoon” I reply. The pitch of my voice raising, becoming more childish. “My name is Akemi Homura. Is Felicity Chambers there? We were supposed to get together but I’m a bit early.”

A slight pause. “I’m sorry, I think you have the wrong address. There’s no Felicity Chambers here.”

A dead end then. No mention of Flick being the previous occupant of the apartment. It could have been that Flick had never been here. Maybe the current tenant wasn’t aware of any previous occupants of her home or she just wasn’t willing to share anything that she knew.

It wasn’t what I wanted, but whatever the case was there was nothing else of value I would get from this conversation.

I paused for a moment and schooled my face into a slightly confused expression. I shifted slightly, shaking my head slightly as I pulled my phone out of my pocket. I quickly unlocked it and tapped through windows for a short moment.

“Oh...” I said quietly, a sheepish expression on my face as I looked back at the lens in the panel. “I don’t know how I got so mixed up. I’m very sorry for disturbing you. Have a good evening.”

The second that the connection drops I made a hard turn on my heel and head back the way I came.

Despite knowing that it might not be as simple as I hoped, with each setback my inability to find Flick in the locations I knew she had been in the previous timeline became ever slightly more frustrating. Even if the previous timeline was a complete anomaly and Flick was just a normal girl in this timeline, I still needed to know.

There was one final card that had hopefully been caught up my sleeve that I would hopefully be able to play. If that failed I’d have to resort to much more unreliable methods.

The first would be attempting to track down Flick through any online presence she had and getting in contact with her that way. That depended at on her being aware of at least some of the supernatural aspects of the world and being willing to trust someone she didn’t know contacting her out of the blue.

The second was waiting to see if Carmentae’s enhanced possession interacted with my time travel the way she expected it would. If the fragment of her soul managed to hold on to me. Whether or not she was currently in Mitakihara, or if the existence of the fragment was interesting enough for her to come and investigate the situation.

Hopefully I wouldn’t have to rely on either of those options.

I entered my apartment locking the door behind me and pulling the blinds shut. I wasn’t particularly worried about being observed, but wanted to cover my bases all the same.

I pulled out the purchase I’d made during a quick detour on my way home. A baseball.

I’d put off doing the relevant tests earlier in the day. If the tests had failed, but I had been able to find Flick it wouldn’t have mattered as much. At least in the short term. Being unable to find her changed things. The results of my test had became much more immediately important.

I took a steadying breath and threw the ball into the air. As it left my fingers I attempt to tense a muscle I’m not sure that I still possess.

I do.

The world slows to a crawl. The ball is still travelling upward. In this state grabbing it out of the air would be as simple as picking it up off a table. I don’t do that. Instead, I hold this state as long as I can. Watching as the ball continues on it’s upward trajectory, pauses at the peak of its arc and falls back toward the ground.

An instant before the ball would have hit the ground I am unable to maintain the state any longer and the world resumes normal speed. The ball bounced away, but I didn’t pay any further attention to it.

I can’t control the smile that spreads across my face. I didn’t want to. I didn’t even try. My Natural Heretic abilities survived the trip back in time. As they were separate from my Magical Girl abilities I had worried that they would have been reset as when I returned to the past.

As events approached their conclusion in the previous timeline I had mixed my blood with Flick’s younger sister. The Seosten girl Tabbris. We had successfully bonded. I gained the powers carried in her genetic code. I become a Natural Seosten Heretic.

With the limited time that had been left my connection with Carmentae had been very beneficial in understanding my new abilities. Experiencing her memories through the link passed on some of her experience using the abilities that we now shared.

The boost was a straightforward ability. It was also not the only power I had gained as part of my new abilities. The Seosten possession ability was mine as well.

At the end of the previous timeline after gaining my new abilities I had possessed Felicity Chambers. When I did I forged a connection between the two of us. My body holding the taste of her magic inside. A lesser version of the connection that Carmentae and I shared, but one that was more likely to survive my trip through time.

If my Heretic abilities had come back in time with me maybe that marker had as well. With that connection I should be able to find Flick wherever she was in the world. To see her and talk with her. It was not an application of my possession ability that I had ever used before. Hopefully what I had learned from Carmentae’s memories was enough to go on.

I had to try.

I shut my eyes, took a breath and attempted to reach out for that connection.

I focused on what I knew about Flick Chambers.

The determination to make the world a better place that drove her. Her inner fire of hope that was strong enough to withstand the revelation of the cycle despair that underpinned life as a Magical Girl, unquenched even by her transformation into a Witch. Strong enough to keep fighting after after experiencing that state of endless despair. Her love for her family. The wish she had made. Rewriting the past to save her mother. Quickly accepting the younger sister that she had been unaware of.

A flash of green.

A connection. Weak but there. I needed to strengthen it.

I focused on why I needed to see her again.

How she had listened to my story. Believed me. Held me when I cried. How she hadn’t hesitated and said without hesitation that I didn’t have to be alone anymore. That she refused to let me suffer even if she ended up forgetting. All I had to do was find her and tell my story to her. That she knew it would enough for her to continue to support me until I managed to escape this maze of repeating time.

I wanted that so much.

The flash of green cleared. Details slowly came into focus.

Trees. A clearing in a forest. The edges marked by partially buried totems. Three girls fighting in the clearing.

Obviously, the first was Flick. I recognized the second girl as well, Avalon Sinclaire the Heretic Magical Girl. However, I had never seen the third before. She was shorter then Flick with dark hair and brown eyes, and at least partially Chinese.

Each of the girls was taking the fight seriously. Despite that, the fight had a playful undertone. Training, not a fight to the death between enemies.

All three moved with much more strength and speed then an ordinary human could ever hope to match. Each was using a different weapon.

The unknown girl flung the two bladed disks she was holding. One at each Flick and Avalon. Flick brought up the staff in her hands knocking the disk away with a hard strike. Avalon manifested an energy shield from one of the gauntlets she was wearing deflecting the disk away from herself.

The weapons used by Avalon and Flick piqued my interest. Why was Avalon using the gauntlets instead of her knives while Flick had kept her staff? The staff was different with it’s blade and grappling hook attachments but it was much closer to her Magical Girl weapon then Avalon’s weapon was.

The third girl made a gesture. Her disks curved through the air and started flying back toward Avalon and Flick. With a hand movement cords of energy appeared connecting both disks to each other as well as connecting the disks to the gloves she was wearing. Not content with limiting herself to that she also fired a blast of lightning from her mouth.

The blast of lightning struck Flick, but instead of sending her flying it did no damage. Flick pointed her hand at the unknown girl and sent the blast of lightning back the way it came. Did Flick have the same ability as the other girl or was that some form of energy redirection?

Flick fired out the grappling hook attached her staff.

It stuck in to one of the trees surrounding the clearing. The line swiftly retracted pulling Flick out of the way of one of the bladed disks that had been redirected towards her by Avalon.

Having gained some distance from the other two girls, but still inside the totems marking the clearing Flick adjusted her grip on her staff.

The staff changed forms into a bow. A line of energy connected from one end to the other forming a bowstring of energy. Flick began quickly pulling the bowstring and releasing it. Adjusting her aim to target both of the other girls. The arrows that she sent flying weren’t physical, but instead made of energy. The other two girls moved to avoid or block the arrows to the best of their ability. Wherever the arrows struck they exploded with a blast of energy.

Despite the powers being used and the similarity of Flick’s weapon to both her Magical Girl transformation and Witch form the three aren’t actively using any Magical Girl transformation that I recognized. Could they all be Heretics instead?

The fight continued. There was no reaction to my observations.

If Flick was a Heretic instead of a Magical Girl in this timeline, was that what normally happened?

I focused on the vision on harder.

I wanted to see more. To know more about what was going in this timeline and understand why the previous timeline was so different. To talk with Flick again.

In that moment I must have pushed too far. There was a sense of vertigo as I found myself no longer viewing visions of three girls fighting in a forest clearing from my apartment in Japan. I was now physically present in that forest clearing with three girls fighting.

The second of disorientation my travel caused was enough for me to be noticed.

The girl I didn’t recognize was the first to register my presence, reacting almost instantly. Flick and Avalon swiftly followed suit.

~~Not hostile, instead each held a slightly defensive stance .~~

Adrenaline rushed through my veins slowing down time, speeding up my reactions.

The three girls started to call out to me–

With a thought I was in my Magical Girl Form. In the same instant there was the sound of gears clicking from my shield. The colours of the world fading to grey. I had a moment to think. I had wanted to find where Flick was, to talk to her. I hadn’t intended to transport myself to her location.

A line of panic ran through me.

Flick could be anywhere in the world.

Would I be able to get back to Mitakihara in time?

If I wasn’t there to save Madoka–

~~Was this timeline already a failure?~~

I pushed the negative thoughts down. I was here now. I had to keep moving forwards.

I moved toward Flick with purpose. If I was here all I could do was talk to her. To tell her my story and make her understand.

I reached towards her, hesitating at the last second and pulling my hand back.

Flick had promised that she would be there for me. She refused to let me suffer on my own. Said that if I told her my story she would always help. But this Flick wasn’t the same person. This timeline was different from the previous one. What if Flick was different too?

~~It would hurt so badly if I reached out to Flick and she rejected me.~~

No.

I gathered my courage.

Flick believed that even if she lost her memories she would still help me. I had to have hope. I had to believe that at her core this Flick was the same type of person who would help me.

 **I g** **rabbed** **Flick’s hand.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not particularly sure how much more I will end up writing for this. 
> 
> However, there will be at least one more chapter (immediately following this one) focusing on Homura's interaction with the Heretical Edge cast. That will likely be either from Flick's point of view or a back and forth between Flick and Homura's point of views. Beyond that we'll see where things go.


	2. Flick I

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter got away from me a bit. 
> 
> In honour of Wish I Were a Bystander getting a sequel have a new chapter on me.

My blood pumped. Adrenaline surged through my veins as I dodged the attacks thrown by my girlfriends. I had to be quick or they’d pin me down. They hadn’t completely teamed up. Both of them still took occasional shots to keep the other on her toes, but at the moment both seemed more interested in me then each other.

But, I wasn’t fighting alone either. Tabbris didn’t always join me in these training spars. It was just as important to stay sharp fighting alone as well as combined, but she had joined me today.

I pointed my staff at the ground and triggered a kinetic detonation throwing myself backwards, gaining some more distance to work with. My thumb moved without my direction, pressing a hidden button on my staff. Sand flew from the open portal gripped by my sand control power. An instant later and another of my powers activated, heat poured off of the swirling sands as the grains were super-heated. Under Tabbris’ control the scorching sand surged towards both Avalon and Shiori, harassing both and forcing them on the back-foot.

Switching my staff back to its bow form I added to the confusion by adding an adding a volley of kinetic arrows into the mix.

Sparing like this was fun. Of course we weren’t idiots about it. The clearing was one of a few areas around the Atherby camp designed for intensive sparing. The totems marking the boundaries of the clearing were enchanted with spells that prevented our attacks from being lethal in case we misjudged our own strength or the defences of our partners while inside the enclosed area.

We weren’t pushing things hard enough that that we intended to rely on the safeties though. The rules of this sort of thing had been drilled into each and every one of us who was using the training grounds. Signal if something didn’t feel right or if you needed a minute to heal. We didn’t have to take every opening we saw. Sometimes it was better to call the hit instead of actually making it.

The totems gave us a safety net, but it was always better to have a safety net and not need it then to constantly rely on it being there.

Switching my bow back into staff form I tapped my Seosten boost and lunged back toward Avalon and Shiori. The point of these sparring sessions wasn’t to win. It was to try new things. Switching up the distance and method of method of attack on the fly was half of the fun of it.

“Stop!” Shiori shouted.

In an instant, the sand that Tabbris had been wielding stopped giving off heat and dropped to the ground. My thoughts raced. Tabbris and I hadn’t been pushing them that hard. Had something gone wrong?

I started to open my mouth to call out the questions running through my mind. However, before I had the chance, my both Tabbris and I caught up with what my senses were telling me. _Flick,_ _y_ _our item sense!_ Tabbris’ mental voice shouted in the same instant as my realization.

What Shiori’s enhanced senses had been an instant quicker then Avalon’s or my own in detecting. My item-sense let me know someone had appeared in the clearing with us without crossing any other intervening space in my range to get there.

Someone sneaking past my item-sense wasn’t completely unheard of. The universe was a huge place, full of a multitude of species each with their own inherent abilities. Appearing like that, presence concealment abilities similar to Roxa’s would do the trick. Similarly, a strong enough movement ability could also give the same effect. Moving fast enough that I didn’t notice as they crossed my range, pure teleportation or stopping time to get in to position were all other possibilities.

I spun on my heel to face the newcomer bringing my staff up into a one-handed defensive stance. Just because they had shown up unexpectedly didn’t mean that they were an enemy. Being unnecessarily aggressive and starting fights that you didn’t need to was stupid, but so was being unprepared to defend yourself if needed.

The newcomer was an Asian looking girl, a few years younger looking then Avalon, Shiori and myself. Some people would immediately lower their guards on seeing her young age, disregarding her as a possible threat. Tabbris and I knew better though, after all one of the most dangerous people we had ever met looked like an eight year old girl.

She was wearing what looked like a school uniform for some fancy private school. She had long dark hair, but her most striking feature was her deep purple eyes. For Bystanders, purple eyes would be obviously unnatural, something from fantasy novels or limited to really dedicated cosplayers using coloured contacts for the authentic character experience. However, on the Heretic side of things such “exotic” traits were much more commonplace. With all the powers that Heretics could pick up over their lifetimes eye colour could end up being easier to change then hair colour was for Bystanders. Heck, my face-shifting power was more then strong enough to play around with things like that if the urge struck me.

 _H_ _er eyes_ _could_ _also_ _be a hybrid trait_ Tabbris’ mental voice chimed in with another possibility.

I refocused my train of thought. Honestly, the reason that the newcomer had purple eyes was utterly insignificant at this point. A question for a latter time, if the girl was friendly. In the handful of moments since the girl had appeared with my item-sense I could feel Avalon and Shiori adjusting their positions for better coverage to fight or flee if she turned hostile.

Most importantly though was the fact that while Avalon momentarily broke the line of sight with the newcomer, shielded for an instant by my body I could feel her triggering an alert on her phone with my item-sense. Regardless of what the happened next. help was on the way.

The newcomer wasn’t obviously hostile though. She hadn’t immediately attacked after appearing. Hopefully that meant that she was friendly or at least willing to talk. The easiest way to begin to determine that was to ask.

I began opening my mouth to call out a greeting to the newcomer-

Suddenly things changed.

If I had to describe it I would say it happened between blinks, but my eyes had been open the whole time. The colour had bled out of the world leaving everything a muted grey. I could hear the sound of gears clicking in an omnipresent background noise. The newcomer had vanished from where she had originally stood. She had instantly closed the distance between the two of us and was holding my previously free hand in her own.

Without looking behind me I could feel that Avalon and Shiori were frozen through my item-sense. A widespread paralysis effect? Time-stops again?

Another fraction of my attention noted that the girl’s outfit had changed as I almost struck at her on pure reflex. The thing that stopped me was the slightest, almost imperceptible tremble I could feel in the hand holding my own and the look in the other girl’s eyes.

The girl’s purple eyes had locked with my own. “Flick-” she started and then the words poured out of her. More specifically a single sentence. A very important sentence that only Tabbris and myself should have known the meaning of.

My time travel trust password.

That was unexpected.

It was something that Miranda and I done years ago after watching some science fiction movie or another. _It was after we watched the second Stranded movie_ Tabbris chimed in, refreshing the memory from my childhood. After the crazy time travel plot of the movie we had decided to put together our own time travel trust passwords. Being recruited by Crossroads and learning about everything hidden behind the Bystander Effect made my time travel trust password more then just an idle bit of silliness between two friends.

Learning about the variety of different powers that existed through out the universe made that sort of secret less absolutely useful in trusting another person. Certain divination powers could determine the correct words to say. Seosten possession could steal those secrets from their target’s mind. Mind control abilities that could force someone to reveal their closest held secrets. Memory spells to erase the memory of the secret being compromised. My childhood time travel trust password hadn’t been protected by any of the protection spells that could stop such things.

 _I can’t see any gaps in your memory_ Tabbris said anticipating my question. _Mama would be able to check for sure._

 _Whatever is going on, we’ll need to get the adults involved_ I thought back at my partner.

Not telling the adults about a girl appearing with my time travel password would be stupid. Even if whatever the girl had come back in time for didn’t require the massed firepower of the adult Heretics and my team was enough to handle it, we would still need to get them involved in verifying the girl’s story. Confirming that nothing had effected my memories and whatever story the girl told she was being honest.

But, it wasn’t like time travel was beyond the realm of imagination either. I’d already met one time traveller during my first year at Crossroads, but he had shown up without knowing my time travel trust password.

Talking was always a good way of figuring out what was going on and more specifically how much trouble a time traveller showing up represented for the future.

“Your method of time travel must be better then the one the other time traveller I know used, considering don’t show up naked” I said, “or did you get a pair of clothes before you came to find me?”

A look of confusion flashed across the other girl’s face for an instant before she responded. “That’s not a problem that I have when I time travel.” She paused for a moment before slowly continuing. “I didn’t mean to come here. I just wanted to check. It was an accident.”

The girl ran her free hand through her hair.

“Where am I?” she asked.

“We’re at the Atherby camp” I replied. After a moment it was obvious that naming our location didn’t mean anything to the girl. “We’re in a pocket dimension connected to Earth” I clarified “it's a safe place.”

It was all true. The Atherby camp was very well defended and that was before taking into account the changes that came with the massive increase in the number of people who called it home. If the girl had come with peaceful intent she would be safe here.

“You have my time travel password so you obviously know who I am” I said. “I haven’t met you yet though. If you didn’t intend to come here where were you?” I left the obvious questions in the air.

“I wasn’t sure...” the girl muttered half under her breath. “My name is Homura Akemi. Before I was here I was in Mitakihara.”

It wasn’t a location name I recognized off hand. Before I could ask for clarification Tabbris cut in with the answer. _It’s a city in Japan._

That raised more questions then it answered. For all the insanity that my life had been since becoming a Heretic my adventures on Earth had been limited to territory that Crossroads and Eden’s Garden claimed as being part of their purview.

Japan was not part of that territory.

“It’s nice to meet you again... or for the first time. If you were in Mitakihara before showing up here, are you a member of one of the Japanese Heretic groups? I’m sorry I haven’t had any contact with them yet so I don’t know much about what they’re like.”

I caught another almost imperceptible flinch as it flashed across Homura’s face for a moment before smoothing out.

“No, not exactly.” Homura hesitated for a moment before asking, “Flick are you a Heretic?”

I felt a flash of panic from Tabbris. A minor activation of my face-shifting power colour changed my hair to a mix of pinks and whites as she took control of my mouth.

“If you’re asking that, do you not know _when_ you are?” Tabbris asked, her panic obvious in the tone of my voice.

Tabbris was right to be panicked too. If you knew when you had been and when you were going time travel was as safe as anything in Heretic life. If Homura had been jumping around the timeline to the point that she didn’t know when she was, well that was like playing Russian Roulette... with nukes.

Homura paused for a moment, obviously thinking, before realizing what Tabbris was really asking. “I know when I am” she said. “You don’t have to worry about that. I’ll explain everything, I know it doesn’t make sense, but answering my question will help.”

 _She’s right,_ _it doesn’t make sense that she wants to know if you’re a Heretic. If s_ _he isn’t lying about knowing_ _when she is_ _it shouldn’t be a question._ _She should know that you’re a Heretic,_ Tabbris’ mental voice piped up.

I responded with a mental nod of agreement. _Something weird is going on here,_ I thought back at my little sister.

“Yes. I am a Heretic” I said, “I spent a year at Crossroads, but with the year end rager I threw, I’m pretty sure they won’t be inviting me back for a second year.”

It was a dumb little joke. A completely massive understatement about the events of the end of the school year, but Homura’s complete lack of a response to it gave Tabbris and I some more unexpected information.

 _She doesn’t know about Exodus_ Tabbris’ mental voice said confirming that we were both thinking the same thing.

The girl in front of us didn’t make sense.

She knew my time travel password, but seemed off balance being here. She appeared to be unaware of basic information, both about myself and the state of the world. Information that a time traveller carrying my time travel password should have.

What relationship did my future self have with her? If Homura was someone that I had taken under my wing as some sort of student she should have been a lot more at ease with the current situation.

Maybe my future self had just gotten more cagey about what I shared in the future. That didn’t make sense. It wasn’t like the fact that I was a Heretic or the events of the end of my first year at Crossroads were a secret.

Not to be arrogant, but that was the sort of thing that history books were written about.

Whatever my relationship was with Homura, it should have been something that she knew about.

 _Could the loyalists manage to put together another Mnemosyne spell?_ Tabbris’ mental voice asked hesitantly.

The widespread memory spell had been what cut off the revolution the first go round. My gut said that wasn’t the case though. I couldn’t imagine that the current situation was one where everyone wasn’t playing for keeps. This time it would be victory or death.

Whatever the future looked like, was it just that Homura was the only option available? Was she someone pulled in at the last moment maybe with a useful power-set given the bare minimum of information and sent back in time.

Had things gone so badly?

 _The_ _machinations of o_ _ur_ _f_ _uture sel_ _ves_ _are_ _vast and_ _unknowable,_ Tabbris’ mental voice chimed in with over exaggerated seriousness.

Speculating wouldn’t help.

Homura had travelled back in time for a reason. If we had failed the first go-round we’d just have to do better this time.

Start with the easy questions Flick. “So, why are we holding hands?” I asked, lifting our joined hands in demonstration.

“It’s part of my power” Homura replied, “I can stop time, but anyone who is physically connected to me is able to move. If I wasn’t holding your hand, you would be frozen and we wouldn’t be able to talk.”

 _It’s not like_ _this i_ _s_ _the first time we’ve be been trapped in a time-stop bubble with someone we weren’t_ _completely_ _sure that we could trust_ Tabbris snarked. _At least this time, we s_ _houldn’t_ _be_ _as outclassed as last time_ _._

It really said something about the madness our lives had been for the last year that Tabbris could say that without a word of a lie.

Given that Homura needed a physical connection to exclude someone from her ability to stop time meant that she was much more likely to be around my power level then anyone else I had seen use that ability. Even so, if the other girl broke contact there wasn’t anything I could do about it. I didn’t have any abilities that would allow me to ignore the bubble of frozen time. I was good with magic and Tabbris was amazing, but neither of us were currently talented enough to cast the spells that would allow us to continue to move in a bubble of frozen time, without the physical connection to Homura.

Homura was holding my hand though. As long as that was the case, if things went bad I could take a chance on possession and hope that she wasn’t a hybrid or didn’t have other protections against the ability.

Still she hadn’t been hostile yet and I hoped things would stay that way.

If I had really given her my time travel password in some future I had so many questions. Who was she really and how had we known each other? Why she had come back in time to this point in particular? Why did she seem so lacking in basic knowledge? Getting in unnecessary fights wasn’t something that I enjoyed, but attacking a who might be a friend without reason would be even worse.

“I know that this is probably confusing and I want to explain what’s going on. It was hard to talk about to begin with and that doesn’t even start with the huge parts of it that I don’t completely understand myself,” Homura said.

“You came back in time with my time travel trust password. No matter how confusing your story is I want to hear it,” I replied.

“I should explain it to everyone at once.” Homura paused, looking past me to were Avalon and Shiori stood frozen. “I know Avalon Sinclaire, but I’ve never met her before” she said gesturing at Shiori the question obvious in her voice.

“Her name is Shiori Porter.” I said, “She’s a Heretic just like Avalon and I. She’s my girlfriend. Since you have my time travel password she’s someone you can trust.”

A surprised sound escaped from Homura’s mouth.

I gave her a mildly confused look.

“I wasn’t expecting that” Homura said, hesitating for a moment. “You and Avalon were together where I came from” she continued slowly.

Homura’s hesitance made sense.

If she had known Avalon and me in the time that she had come from, knew that we were together and knew that we had been together in the _present_ , introducing Shiori to her as my girlfriend would be confusing. After all, if she hadn’t known Shiori in the future why would she know about my relationship with her?

For someone who hadn’t gotten used to the quirks of Heretic society my relationship status could seem strange. I had needed to get used to that sort of relationship as well during my time at Crossroads. I was glad I did though. Happy thoughts of how lucky I was to have both Avalon and Shiori in my life settled warmly in my chest.

“Shiori is my girlfriend, but Avalon is too” I said, pausing for a moment before continuing. “It’s a Heretic thing.”

 _That’s true._ Tabbris’ mental voice spoke, _but the Seosten_ _Imperium_ _brought that with them while they were interfering with Heretic society._

 _I think that might be getting a bit too in depth for our time_ _t_ _raveller_ I thought back with a light smile at my little sister.

“I’ll trust you. This wasn’t what I had meant to happen, but not explaining it is a waste of time. I’ll tell you everything I can,” Homura said. “It’s easier if everyone isn’t holding hands for this conversation. I have a rope that we can use instead, but I need both of my hands for that.”

With a nod of agreement I nodded in agreement before stabbing my staff into the ground with a single stoke. Jaq’s blade form dug in deep enough to hold my staff upright without being frozen in time. I watched the colour fade from the staff as I let go of it to adjust my positioning, keeping a physical connection to Homura, but freeing up her hands.

With both of her hands now free Homura reached behind her shield. When her hand reemerged she was holding a coiled rope.

“This should make things easier for everyone” she said as she swiftly uncoiled the rope.

Holding one end in her hand she offered the length of the rope to me. I hesitated for a split second before taking the rope and releasing my grip on the other girls shoulder.

“It’ll probably be easier if I’m the one to free them from the time-stop” I said, “it’s less likely that there will be any accidents that way.”

Homura gave me a “go ahead” look but didn’t reply.

With a touch each I freed Avalon and Shiori from their frozen states. With a quick exchange of words to each of them I explained the small fragment of the situation that I knew.

“Well, are you going to explain what’s going on?” Avalon asked her gaze fixed on Homura.

“Yes,” Homura said, “I’ll explain everything that I know. For it to make sense I have to tell it from the beginning.”

“We can take as much time as you need. After all, we have all the time in the world” Shiori said.

Homura gave Shiori a flat look.

“Everything started when I transferred to Mitakihara Middle School,” slowly Homura began telling her story.

“I was born with a heart condition. The hospitalization resulting from that left me isolated from others my age. However, a series of successful surgeries improved my condition enough that I could attend school with my peers. Which I did.

“School was what exactly what one would expect, until I was attacked by a monster one day as I walked home.

“A voice that whispered that I should just kill myself.

“I didn’t know what was happening. It was like a fever dream. The world warped around me. I saw things that were human shaped, but weren’t that started coming after me.

“But, I was saved.

Two girls in fancy costumes, with magical weapons showed up just in time and defeated the monster. They said it was a Witch. One of the girls was a classmate of mine, Madoka Kaname. The other was an upperclassman named Mami Tomoe.

“There was a catlike creature with them named Kyubey. It wasn’t something I had never seen before. It could talk and said that Madoka and Mami were magical girls who hunted Witches.”

“Magical Girls? Like something out of Sailor Moon?” Shiori cut in.

“Not exactly” Homura replied, but didn’t clarify further then.

“I followed the two of them as they hunted Witches for the next month, learning about Magical Girls. I learned that Kyubey had the power to create Magical Girls who hunt the Witches that prey on humanity. It had given the Madoka and Mami their powers and granted them a wish in exchange.”

“A wish?” Avalon asked.

“It’s part of Kyubey’s power. To catalyze a girl’s potential by granting the wish held in her heart. The granting of the wish shapes the power of the Magical Girl” Homura explained.

“Something similar to the power of a Djinn maybe...” Shiori wondered aloud.

For all the questions that Avalon, Shiori and I had about Homura and why she was here, in that moment I could see Homura filing her own questions away to ask later. However, she was willing to wait as she continued with her story.

“Eventually a Witch appeared, stronger then any I had seem them fight before. Walpurgis Night. A Witch strong enough to destroy cities with her power.

“Mami was killed in the fighting. Madoka died destroying Walpurgis Night.

“She was my friend. I couldn’t let her just die like that. Kyubey had told me I had the potential to become a Magical Girl but I had been afraid. I the contract with Kyubey to become a Magical Girl. I wished that I could meet Madoka again and be strong enough to protect her like she protected me.

“My wish manifested in the ability to manipulate time.”

Homura gestured to the monochrome world around us.

“I gained the ability stop time. More importantly was the ability to travel back. I made my wish and I woke up back in my hospital bed. Time wound back to before I had started at Mitakihara Middle School. Before I had ever met Madoka or knew anything about magical girls.”

Homura apparently knew us well enough to anticipate the burning question that we wanted to know the answer for. How did she travel back in time to a place to a place where she already existed?

“The limitations of Heretical time travel methods don’t apply to my power. I’ve never had problems travelling to a time and place that I have already been” she said, “I’ve never encountered myself. It has always only been me.”

This revelation of a method of time travel that defied the accepted limitations of that type of magic was enough to send an excited Tabbris down the rabbit hole of magical theorization in the back of my mind. She mostly managed to keep her trains of thought to herself, but a few fragments bled through.

 _I_ _nstead_ _o_ _f two people at once_ _..._ _memories?_ _Her power came back too... similar to the Edge maybe..._ _b_ _ut,_ _how does it get around the need for a fixed start point_ _that already exists_ _...?_

I tuned out out Tabbris’ stray thoughts focusing on Homura instead. Tabbris could pull anything that she missed from my memory.

Homura paused for a moment with a flash of realization in her eyes.

“I don’t tell this story often, when I do, it’s almost always to people who understand the basics of a Magical Girl’s life. I need to explain a few things before continuing.

“As part of becoming a Magical Girl a crystal called a Soul Gem is created. A Magical Girl’s power flows from her soul gem.” Homura gestured with her hand, drawing our attention to an ornament containing a large purple jewel.

“The distorted space that I mentioned earlier is an ability that Witches share. The Witches Labyrinth. An isolated dimension of controlled by a Witch and reflecting their madness and hatred of the world. Fighting in a labyrinth comes with a cost. Our Soul Gems darken with the taint of that, weakening the ability of a Magical Girl to use her magic.

When defeated Witches sometimes leave a core behind. Magical Girls call it a Grief Seed. Each Grief Seed can be used to draw a portion of the taint off to restore a Magical Girl’s Soul Gem. However, Grief Seeds aren’t stable. If they’re left alone for too long the defeated Witch will resurrect herself.

Kyubey consumes used Grief Seeds to purify them and prevent this.”

Homura looked at the three of us as it to confirm that we had internalized some of basic concepts important to the story she was telling. Apparently coming to the conclusion that we had been paying attention she continued.

“I was back at the beginning. Back when everything had started for me. This time would be different. I was a Magical Girl now. I could help Madoka and Mami.

“I teamed up with the two them. I learned how to be a Magical Girl with Madoka. We hunted Witches together. We were friends.

“Walpurgis came.

“We fought it.

“Madoka and I survived.

“It had taken nearly everything we had. Madoka had fought so hard that her Soul Gem was nearly black from the strain.

“Despite everything we had survived it.

“That was the moment that I learned something horrible.”

Homura ran a hand through her hair.

“Madoka had hit the limit of all Magical Girls. Her Soul Gem turned completely black. It tarnished and warped. It transformed into a Grief Seed.

“Madoka became a Witch.”

A cold pit settled in my stomach.

The words spilled out of Homura faster and faster.

“Kyubey isn’t the benevolent magical girl mascot that it pretends to be. It’s a predator.

“It created the cycle of sadness and despair that is the Magical Girl system, using it to gather power by eating Grief Seeds to pursue its own goals.

“Even its name is a lie.

“Becoming a Magical Girl is damning yourself to a horrible fate. Becoming the thing that you fought. Being consumed by madness and hatred and driven to spread those feelings with the world. Being forced to fight Magical Girls who try to stop you to. Killing them. Or if you are luckier, dying to them instead.

“The cycle continues regardless.

“The Incubator’s offer of a wish in exchange for becoming a Magical Girl is a deal with the devil.”

It said something about how horrible the situation that Homura described was that no one jumped on her turn of phrase.

“Taking advantage of people who want to protect those around them is more common then it ever should be” Avalon said, disgust obvious in her tone.

Obviously the two situations weren’t the same, but the similarities were there. Crossroads had been set up from the beginning to draw a line between humans and everything else in the universe. Teaching that every non-human would prey on humanity if given the chance.

That wasn’t true.

Heretics _could_ change. They weren’t forced to kill everything that wasn’t human. They could reject Crossroads’ ideology and commit themselves to protecting everyone who just wanted to live their lives in peace. Even if so many Heretics still believed what Crossroads taught, the ability to change was always there.

The situation that Homura described, where Magical Girls were set up from the beginning to have the ability make those choices taken away from them, that was disgusting.

A minor application of my face-shifting power changed my hair back to a mix of pink and white. “You’re a Magical Girl too...” my voice trailed off as Tabbris searched for a good way to phrase the question of how close are you to turning into an uncontrollable monster without making things awkward.

Homura ran her hand through her hair.

“You don’t need to worry about that. I’m nowhere near hitting my limit.” She said obviously understanding Tabbris’ underlying concern.

“Could the transformation of a Magical Girl into a Witch be reversed?” Avalon wondered aloud, “or some magic to bind a Magical Girl more strongly to their human form and prevent the transformation happening at all?”

“It’s something to look into. We’d need to get the adults involved with something like that though” Shiori replied, “magic like that sounds like it would be way beyond our level.”

“Transforming a Witch back into a Magical Girl can be done. I have only seen it happen once, but I have the spells needed to do it” Homura replied. “It takes massive amounts of magic to reverse the transformation of a Witch back into a Magical Girl, and it isn’t a perfect cure. The transformation leaves scars.

“The Magical Girl I know who was reverted back from a Witch lost her Magical Girl form. After that, she transformed into her Witch form when using her powers. It was a power that came with with a price. The echos of the Witches madness remained in that form. Tempting her to fall again every time she used her power.”

Hearing Homura say that reverting the transformation was possible, even if it came with a price, and that she had the spells needed to perform that feat was a weight off my mind. Knowing that the girl in front of me, who my future self had trusted and others in the same situation weren’t necessarily doomed to a terrible fate.

Avalon, Shiori, Tabbris and I all knew that being able to revert transformations like that wasn’t a given. The closest experience that I could draw parallels to the Magical Girl to Witch transformation with was the transformation of a human into one of the many were-creature variants across the world.

That was a transformation which couldn’t be undone.

With Roxa’s situation being what it had been after being transformed into a werewolf, the fact that Gaia one of the most powerful Heretics I knew hadn’t even mentioned it as a possibility was pretty much enough to write it off. Adding to that, the story of the Ring of Anuk-Ité which triggered our hunt for the legendary enchanted object explicitly stated that the ring was created for the chieftains daughter because the transformation couldn’t be reversed.

Thankfully that wasn’t the case for Magical Girls. They could be saved from the fate Homura described, and she had brought back the spells needed to do it.

“Mami was dead. Madoka was a Witch. I went back in time again” Homura continued. “I just couldn’t get it right.

“I learned about other Magical Girls in Mitakihara. Girls who would contract if things weren’t changed. They wouldn’t believe me about Kyubey. Things went wrong.

“I went back in time again.

“No matter what I tried I couldn’t get it right.

“I couldn’t count on anyone else.

“There had to be something. Some way to make events fall just right. If I was better, faster, smarter. If I knew more about Magical Girls, Witches, everything. There had to be something that would lead to a happy ending.

“I went back in time. Again and again and again-”

It might have been my feelings listening to Homura describe the situation she had been trapped in, it might have been Tabbris’. It was probably both of us. Regardless, my body moved. I pulled the younger girl into a hug, cutting her off mid sentence.

I could feel Homura tense for an instant in my arms as I hugged her tightly. “I’m so sorry. What you’ve been through... it sounds terrible. No one should have to go through something like that, especially on their own.”

“I just wanted to save Ma- my friends” Homura cried, her voice voice slightly muffled by my hug.

“You haven’t gotten to the point in your story where you met us yet...” I replied, “I’ll say what I expect the future me who you knew already said if she’s anything like this me. What you’ve gone through was terrible, but don’t give up yet. It’ll be alright. We’ll help you get through this and find a way to save everyone. If things go wrong, you can come back to us and we’ll try it again. We’ll get it right together.”

A laugh tore its way out of Homura’s mouth, “you and the Flick I knew really are the same person.”

I held the younger girl in my arms trying to provide as much comfort to her as I could. Slowly but surely she regained her composure. I gave Homura a final squeeze then grabbed hold of the rope, letting go of Homura and leaving her to continue her story.

“I kept trying to find some way I could reach a happy ending. Repeating every time I failed. But last time something happened that was completely different then anything I had ever seen before.”

My mind raced ahead down the path of Homura’s explanation to the logical conclusion.

In her previous time-loop she had finally met Heretics, or at least Avalon and me.

Given the one year time limit on the armistice between Earth and the Seosten providing a united front for when that time ran out was important. At some point during the upcoming year Avalon and I must have gone to Japan in an attempt to bring the Japanese Heretics on board with our alliance.

A butterfly must have flapped its wings and we must have crossed paths with Homura and learned about everything that was going on with Magical Girls.

Only having met us the loop before explained some of Homura’s confusion when she first appeared. If she had been dealing exclusively with Magical Girls and Witches for as long as she had, Heretics must have seemed strange and alien to her understanding of how the world worked.

“I met people who I had never seen in any of my repeats. Learned things about how the universe works that I had never known before.

“I met you and Avalon.

“More specifically, I met the Magical Girl Felicity Chambers and the Magical Girl and Natural Heretic Avalon Sinclaire.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Stay safe everyone.


End file.
